She remembered Hector convulsing when he first touched her in the grocery store, and then she remembered Lucas letting go of her so abruptly in the hallway the very first time she had seen him. She had been so afraid of them both, so desperate to defend herself.... Was it possible she had summoned a power she had never been aware of? Had she createdlightning?
Somewhere in the back of her mind she saw a blue flash, and Kate crumple to the ground. A terrible thought occurred to her. She tried to banish it as she had done since childhood, but this time the thought wouldn’t go away.
“We think that means you are descended from Zeus,” Cassandra said. “But from which House is still uncertain. The Four Houses were founded by Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Poseidon. Aphrodite and Apollo were Zeus’s children, so Scions from their Houses could display his traits as well. The fourth House, the House of Athens, was founded by Poseidon, so it can be ruled out. Well, maybe.”
“My House?” Helen said, still so wrapped up in her own head that she was having a hard time understanding English. She was remembering a blue flash from her past, and a scary man that kept trying to touch her hair, flying away from her off the back of the Nantucket ferry. The smell of burning filled her throat. Helen rubbed her hand over her face and tried to rebury that memory. She had always believed that shecouldn’thave been the cause of that. And worse—had she hurt Kate, too?
“When we say your House, we mean your heritage, Helen,” Castor said gently, noticing Helen’s disquiet. “Zeus had a lot of children, so your House can’t be pinpointed with any certainty yet. But don’t worry, we’re still trying to find out who your people were.”
“Thanks,” Helen muttered, still overwhelmed.
“You can’t control the lightning yet, it sort of jumps out of you when you’re upset,” Lucas said after a long pause. He was looking at her strangely.
“Is it like a Taser?” Helen asked anxiously, suddenly snapping out of her trance.
“Yeah,” Hector said as if he was recollecting both sensations and comparing them in his mind. “But stronger.”
“Does it really hurt?” Helen said quietly. She felt sick to her stomach.
“I guess,” Hector said with a condescending shrug. “You know, if you put in some real training, you could probably generate a lethal charge soon.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Helen said, jumping to her feet, horrified with the suggestion. And with herself.
“Wait, Helen, it could be a good thing,” Jason replied. “You could learn how to use your bolts instead of fighting.”
“You don’t have to use them to kill. Just to knock people out,” Lucas amended, aware now that something was disturbing Helen deeply.
He couldn’t know that what he was saying to make it better only made it worse. Helen thought of Kate’s unconscious body—how Kate had convulsed in that nauseating way when the blue light flashed. How her head had lolled back and her mouth fell open uncontrollably when Helen had picked her up off the ground. She couldn’t get the horrifying images out of her head so she started pacing around, wringing her hands to dispel the nervous energy she felt. She knew everyone was staring at her. She looked up and locked eyes with Pandora, who was clearly attentive to her strange reaction.
“Why don’t we talk about this tomorrow?” Pandora said to the room in general. “Hector needs to eat and everyone else needs a shower. No offense, but pee-ew, guys.” She got a few laughs, but more important, she got the focus off Helen. Helen smiled at her gratefully.
“Are you okay?” Ariadne whispered in Helen’s ear as the family meeting broke up. Helen squeezed Ariadne’s hand and tried to smile, but she had no idea what to say. She started to wander toward the door.
“I’ll take you home,” Lucas called out over his shoulder to Helen, ending the brief conversation he was having with his father and uncle.
“I’m supposed to watch Helen tonight,” Jason said apologetically.
“And I have my bike,” Helen said. She couldn’t bear to be with him alone.
“I don’t care,” Lucas replied bluntly to them both. He stared down Jason for a moment, speaking volumes with his eyes, then turned back to Hector. “I need your truck,” he said with barely controlled anger. Hector nodded, glancing over at Helen and back at Lucas with something approaching sympathy.
Lucas grabbed Helen’s hand and pulled her outside. He loaded her bicycle into the back of Hector’s SUV, held Helen’s door open for her while she got in, and drove out of the garage without a word. Once off the Delos property he pulled over into one of the many scenic park-and-gawk spots and turned in his seat to face Helen.
“What’s going on?” he asked, angry and frustrated and frightened all at the same time.
Helen didn’t have an answer for him.
“Will you at least tell me what I did wrong?”
“I already told you, you didn’tdoanything,” Helen said to her lap.
“Then why are you treating me like this? Look at me,” he pleaded, taking her hand. She stared at their linked hands like it was the first time she had ever seen anything like it.
“What the hell is this?” she asked. She pulled her hand out of his with disgust. “You know what? I take it back. You did do something to me. You led me on.”
Lucas’s whole face crumpled. Helen had had no reason to hope after what she had heard the night before, but for some reason there was a tiny spark still glowing in her that maybe, somehow, she had misunderstood. Or that he would change his mind. It went out completely when Lucas nodded.
“I led you on,” he said, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists so hard Helen thought for a moment he was going to rip the steering wheel off. His voice was harsh, almost a snarl. “You and I can’t be together, so just get it out of your head and move on.”
